Computerized systems to support specific procedures, such as emergency triage, radiology and pathology, are known in the art of the healthcare industry. Patient care databases are also common place. While there are a large number of technologies and computerized systems in use in and available to the healthcare industry, existing technologies do not in practice effectively streamline and support patient care by nurses.
The computer systems in place often constitute a bewildering array of disparate systems built for and by specialist stakeholders. Nurses are frequently overburdened with records and charts which are repetitive, time-consuming and difficult to interpret, leading to errors which may be harmful or even fatal to patients, unnecessary stress, loss of job satisfaction, and high rates of worker turnover.
There are small systems in the art designed to help reduce errors in the administration of medications which use barcode reading to provide systematized assurance that the correct medication is administered to the intended patient. Those systems are dependant upon the availability of bar code scanners at every bed or with every nurse and with every patient.
Computerized bedside monitoring systems are often used in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at hospitals. These systems record biological signs and frequently record medications given by drip, as well as automated nutrition. Another feature of monitoring systems may include alarms to alert nursing staff to possible deterioration in patient condition and to alert other hospital staff, such as doctors not at the bedside, to ensure rapid response. However these systems are relatively unintelligent in that they do not support the nursing and medical staff by prioritizing them.
Hospital administrators have made attempts to monitor patient care activities with a variety of surveillance technologies. These systems have proved extremely unpopular with nurses, as they are also unintelligent, simply monitoring and recording, rather than helping. Accordingly, there remains a need for technologies and methodologies for addressing the above-described issues.